On the road again: Austin, day 3

Today's far from over, but I thought I'd take a break and write this entry early. I definitely ate too much today, in large part because a client friend suggested we eat lunch at Chuy's. Now, as you can tell from the site, Chuy's is a local chain that's spread to a few Texas cities, but despite that status (or maybe as the reason for that success) it combined a fun and funky atmosphere I instantly liked with some fine TexMex food I quite enjoyed. The chips were light and hot and fresh, and the queso was thick and spicy and wonderful. I should have eaten a quarter of what I did, but when the conversation turns good and the chips keep coming, a lot of food just vanishes.

Despite that over-indulgence, we had reservations tonight at Lambert's, so we headed there for an upscale/gourmet barbecue dinner. It's true that "barbecue" and "gourmet" don't often hang out in the same sentence, but in this case they truly belong together. (And this despite the fact that the meat is not cooked all day over wood; they simply add wood for the smokey flavor.)

Today was an absolutely beautiful treat, with a high in the low 80s and breezes blowing all the time. Back home, it's about 30 degrees colder, which will no doubt hit me as quite a shock on the weekend. This trip has made me wish spring would pick up its skirts and hustle on to North Carolina.

As a final note, I'm sad to report that SF writer Philip Jose Farmer has died. Joe Lansdale notes his influence in this CNN piece, and I think the tribute is at least in part deserved, because at times Farmer really did push the boundaries of the field. I never met him, but I wish I had.